To me, the way Morley played at the weekend suggested that his days as an International prop are done. Peacock played ok, especially considering his injury, but his injuries are a worry and the writting is on the wall for these 2 IMO.

But who do we have to step in - not just for the 4N but for the WC too? Burgess is obviously a shoe in as is Graham. In the squad, the other prop options are Bailey and Carvell. I think Carvell is a good prop and possible International standard but Bailey, like Crabtree IMO, aren't International standard props.

At Hull we've signed Lynch who is a good SL player and has never really had a proper go at International Rugby League but he's quite old now. Off the top of my head other alternative are LMS, Prescott, possibly Clough?

Mossop will probably feature.

Peacock was on the decline prior to his knee injury. Still got a massive workrate, but doesn't look like breaking a tackle at that level any more.

Prop is a position where players making an instant impact as teenagers is highly unusual, it's normally not until they hit the mid-20s that they start to mature IMO.

Burgess, Graham, Bailey, Crabtree would be my four going forward - a nice mix of impact and players who can do long minutes.

I think Bailey IS a good option. He has, IMO, never reached his full potential - I thought he would be a stand out player when younger - but he still has something, especially the ability to wind up the opposition. Just imagine if we got to the final - he might wind up Williams and get him sent off!!

Mossop has been one of the top props all year. He wasn't far behind Tomkins for Wigans player of the season. Him and Carvell will be next in line.

Despite him not having the strongest season I think Crabtree should feature, people may laugh but he offers something different and they have struggled to handle him in the past.

Comepletely biased assessment from me but i will throw Craig Huby's hat in the ring, before his injury mid season he was arguably one of the form prop's in SL, still only young and is only going to get better

Warrington have potentially some good young props that could come good over the next few seasons.

Cooper, Harrsion (who will probably move to prop), Hill (who comes with alot of good things being said about him).

Mossop impresses me everytime I see him play. If he carrieson progressing over the next two years as he has been doing, he'll be at the World Cup. Could Hock also be in contention at prop?

Paul Prescott at Wigan, Craig Huby at Cas.

The other Burgess brothers.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook at Saints is still fairly young.

Bailey is what, 26/27? Seems to have been around forever and still with his peak years ahead of him.

Carvell will be 32, Griffin 32, and Carbtree 31 by the World Cup.

Maybe none of those I've listed are as good as Peacock & Morley were at their peaks (or even now), but all it takes is for two/three of them to make that extra improvement.

definatley think cooper (if he carries on for from back end of the season) harrison and mossop will be futures, but maybe a another set (carvel crabtree etc) that will serve regularly before they do. maybe a future 4 props of

Harrison
Cooper
Mossop
LMS

There are younger players coming through, but has been proven that the best props are 28 to 33. HKR have a couple of good young superleague standard props but will take one more season at least to come through. Baily & Lynch for me are the ones to go with Graham, Burgess, Carvell & Crabtree at the moment. Other clubs will also have a couple in waiting that I dont know of as well.

Peacock is still a reasonable player, but not up to international football.

Morley is finished. He was all about impact, he'd come on, charge about and smash one or two players and turn a game. He's no longer capable of that. He comes on, tackles, looks like he's been run over and then flails around for the rest of his stints.

Warrington would do well to let Salford have him as their marquee player.

Mossop is a real gem. He should be in now but for some reason isn't but as he develops he'll become a regular and a very good one at that. He is in the Peacock mould and just needs to add a little bulk now.

Guys like Prescott, McCarthy Scarsbrook as well as Luke and eventually Tom Burgess may come in to the picture.

I also think Ben Westwood and Ben Harrison may start to play fulltime prop especially when Morley retires and then there's always Sam Burgess.

All ready to step up now.
Carvell
Mossop
Sam Burgess
Gareth Hock
Ben Harrison

Not far off or just need a bit more development
Liam Watts
Scott Taylor
Tom Burgess
George Burgess
Luke Burgess
Paul Prescott
Louis MS

The only ones who offer something extra are the Burgess bros purely because of their size and maybe Hock because despite his self destruction he can be explosive.

Paul Prescott is infinately more ready for international rugby (at the moment) than Gaz Hock, and definately more than Ben Harrison (as a prop). Very underrated player who's stepped up his game this year.

I'd say Paul Wood at Wire, but he's getting on a bit as well. Good player though.

LMS is already a better player than Hock or Ben Harrison, who hasn't exactly torn trees up for Warrington this season.

Whilst he seems to have been around forever, Graham is only 26. Barring injury I can't see any of those taking his place for the foreseeable.

I really rate Mossop and believe he will be the next international class prop forward along the lines of Morley, Peacock, Graham.

Carvell must feature, and I'd agree with Mossop and probably Crabtree; he's not spectacular, but he can trundle it up the middle and sucks in defenders purely by virtue of sheer size. (If he ran his weight, he'd be lethal.)

It'll be interesting to see Huby next season - he certainly had a flying start but missed a great chunk of the season due to injury; if he can pick up where he left off, he could feature, as could LMS, who has his best years ahead of him.

I'm not convinced by Bailey - his mythological status at Leeds as being able to 'wind up the opposition' is just as likely at international level to wind up the ref, and then he becomes a liability. To suggest that he'd be an enforcer against Aus or the Kiwi's is a joke.

As for the OP, I agree, both Morley and Peacock, warriors though they are, look pretty much finished at this level; fair play to Peacock mind - he showed what he's made of when he limped back on to the field on Saturday.

If it wasn't for his injury, with how well he was plying Huby would have been in the team instead of Bailey one of the most under rated players in the league.

Mossop is plenty good enough for this level, he's certainly better than Bailey, as is LMS.

I agree i was on about a considerable long term future back, when the 4 i mentioned hit 30 the will be at their peak and a formidable pack.

Amazing that Graham is only 26, seems to have been kicking around for ages. Shows how good he is to have been playing at this level for so long already when props dont normally fulfill their potential until later on in the career

Agreed. Just wish he had a bit more aggression, Hock hasn't been the player he was in the games i've seen him in for Wigan since his return. Maybe a Wigginer who's seen more could offer a better opinion though.

Even us Wigan fans would struggle to give a proper opinion of him due to a lack of games since he come back.

In what we did see he seemed to have all the old attacking power and ball skills as proved by a hat trick against Wakey and an unbelievable offload mid pitch to set up a try for Richards against Bradford.

On the downside his fuse was as short as ever and his defensive workrate will never be the best.

In short he's the sort of player that will win you plenty of games but he'll lose you the odd one as well. If he could sort out his 2 major flaws he'd be one of the very best forwards in the world but it's easier said then done.

Despite the game changing over the years,with 2nd rowers built like big centres,scrum halves like loose forwards,and virtually having 2 stand offs with a 6 and 13,the job of playing prop hasnt changed too much.Maybe this is why so many seem to be permanently carrying some kind of injury,Grahams back has been playing up for 2 seasons,as has Mossops shoulder.How Morley and Peacock keep going is testament to them both.Woods has had back surgery,Crabtree has more bandages than Fozzard,and i saw Hubys injury myself.That leaves Bailey and Carvell,and of those Carvell has been outstanding this season and must come in somewhere.

Defintely think it's time for Morley & Peacock to move on. They have been two great servants, it's time to move on. I just hope they call time and don't try and carry on. Defintely think Mossop will be a star.

For the world cup, I reckon Mossop, Huby and LMS should be good enough at international level. Wales have 2 good props, pity they are not "English".

Think this season will be the litmus test for Hock. He never really looked fit when he came back and even in the last regular season games he looked to be carrying some weight. A full pre-season and proper match fitness under his belt and we'll then be able to see if he will ever be as good as he was when he got banned. If he does regain that form then he'll be a shoe-in for the England team, although what the England team will be doing this time next year is still unclear